


Caring for A Rat

by Flamelordytheking



Category: Sword Art Online (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Angst, Developing Polyamory, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Kayaba was weird about realism, POV Alternating, Polyamory Negotiations, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Probably bad mmo systems, Romantic Fluff, Traumatic Experience Mention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:34:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28799184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flamelordytheking/pseuds/Flamelordytheking
Summary: In one universe, Argo is delayed from starting on a quest by a small scam involving a player smuggling potions. In this universe, she isn't.One week later, Kirito and Asuna rescue her.This is the story of her recovery, and what happens after.
Relationships: Argo/Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito, Argo/Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito/Yuuki Asuna | Asuna, Argo/Yuuki Asuna | Asuna, Kirigaya Kazuto | Kirito/Yuuki Asuna | Asuna
Comments: 14
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of the first stories I feel comfortable publishing. Hopefully it's okay.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kirito and Asuna talk about what they know about Argo's experience.

Caring for a Rat

“Is she going to be okay?” 

Asuna stroked one hand down Argo’s back. The info broker was sound asleep, leaning heavily against my wife.

“I think she will be, she just needs to rest.” We were resting in my house in Algade, having decided that the house on the 22nd floor was unsuitable, despite the fact that we had essentially gotten it for free

“That’s good.” Argo looked kind of cute like this, curled up into Asuna’s side on the couch, trying to spread as much of her body as possible over the other woman. It was very out of character for her, though.

I sat down on the other side of Argo, leaning back into the couch cushions. “I’m really glad we found her,” I said, “If she hadn’t thrown that bottle down…” I didn’t finish the sentence. Asuna knew that we probably wouldn’t have found her.

We had found Argo trapped on top of a tornado, in the very house we were looking for; prevented from sending any messages until a quest was completed. Unfortunately for Argo, she hadn’t been able to gather the key items of the quest before getting trapped in there, and forced to watch as hostile mobs gathered around the base of the tornado she was trapped on, having to fight off flying enemies every hour.

It had been over a week before we had been able to find her. 

At least Asuna had been able to cheese the quest that brought the house back.

“Well, we did, and she’s going to be okay.” Asuna’s words rang with finality, like she would carve the world apart and pull it back together to make certain that one of her few friends was okay.

I hadn’t inquired about her circumstances before SAO, but Asuna had only one or two friends inside the Knights of Blood Oath, and I only knew of Lisbeth and Argo outside of it. Asuna was far from a social butterfly, despite her popularity.

Argo was one of my few friends, too, and I shuddered to think about what might have happened if we hadn’t found that dog in time to reach Argo. She had been trapped in a house at the top of a tornado for over a week, fighting off hostile mobs almost constantly, and from how she had acted before finally falling asleep, it seemed unlikely that she had gotten any sleep. 

“...Kii-bou…” Argo murmured, shivering, “...Aa-chan…no...no...” The small woman curled in on herself, quivering in fear. Asuna pulled Argo into an embrace, the little info broker calming almost instantly, burrowing herself further into my wife, as if trying to siphon all the heat being produced into her body. 

“I need to get dinner started,” Asuna said, starting to reluctantly unwrap herself from the whiskered girl, “Can you stay with her while I cook?”

“Of course.”

It was one of the hardest moments of my life, sitting there, holding Argo close to me, reassuring myself that she was here, and alive, and not trapped, desperately trying to figure out how to escape while fighting off mobs.

It was almost five minutes later that I felt Argo stir. She shifted against me, trying to burrow into my body further, reassuring herself that she was safe. She stayed in that state of half-consciousness until Asuna had finished preparing dinner.

When dinner was over, all of us having eaten our fill, Argo started to return to her old, teasing self.

“So… When were you gonna tell me ya got married?” Argo had timed her statement to make me do a spit-take. Asuna, who had already drunk her tea, simply set her cup down on the saucer, and leveled a glare at Argo.

“When we told the rest of our friends,” The chef said, “We were hoping to make it a surprise, but if you already know…” 

“Eh, don’ worry, I’m not gonna sell this,” Argo said, chuckling at our expressions. The Info Broker was famous for selling any piece of knowledge she could get her hands on, and though she did have her “favorites”, that typically meant that there was a higher price tag attached, not that she was refusing to sell their data.

“I owe you a lot.” The info broker took advantage of our silence to snatch a cookie from the center of the table, “So in addition to a blackout on your relationship, I’m givin’ each a’ you one favor, to be cashed in later.” 

That was... a lot, for Argo. The last time she had given me a favor was when she was in danger from another group of players. For her to admit that she owed us meant that she thought that she was going to die.

“Thanks,” I said with as much sincerity as I could muster, “I’ll treasure it.”

“Now, I’ve gotta go check up on my Net-” Argo paused in the middle of getting up from her seat. Asuna had grabbed one of her arms, keeping a grip that I knew from experience was almost impossible to break.

“You can do that from here easily,” My wife said, all but dragging the whiskered girl back down into her seat.

“Besides, You haven’t really had breakfast in Aincrad until Asuna’s made you breakfast,” I chimed in, trying to convince Argo to stay. Though neither Asuna or I tried to let it show in front of her, we were scared for Argo. It had only been a day since we had gotten her out of that house, and most of that time had been spent trying to finish a quest with an Argo who was all but dead on her feet.

Needless to say, neither Asuna or I was entirely comfortable with letting Argo go off on her own at the moment.

“Okay,” Argo said, ducking into her cloak, “I guess I can stay a lil’ longer.” She sat back down at the table awkwardly, clearly not sure of how she was supposed to act.

That awkwardness lasted well into the night, with Argo sitting hunched over in one corner as she caught up with her network and started putting together a new edition of her newspaper. Laughing Coffin remnants had been discovered in the KoB while Argo was gone, and while rumors were already flying, more people would believe it if the info broker confirmed it.

With a flick of my eyes, I told Asuna that we needed to talk. Wordlessly, she followed me to the bedroom, which dampened all sound coming from it.

“I’m worried about Argo,” I said the instant that Asuna shut the door behind her.

My wife nodded in agreement, “She hasn’t been able to meet our eyes all evening,” She said, her face grave with concern, “And she hasn’t even teased us about being married once.”

“Have you noticed her staring at us?” I asked. When my wife answered in the negative, I outlined my observations. 

Every so often, usually about five minutes, Argo would look up from her work, and look at one of us with some indescribable emotion. If she caught one of us looking at her during that time, she would blush furiously before fading back into her cloak, working on catching up with her network again. Until she stopped to stare at someone again.

“That’s strange,” Asuna said after I had detailed my observations to her. “Do you think she wants to ask us something?”

“Probably. But what would be so embarrassing that she would hesitate to ask it?” I wondered aloud, leaning back against one of the dressers.

“Something personal, most likely.”

“Like her whiskers?” I couldn’t help myself, and we had a good chuckle at the admittedly quite funny backstory behind Argo’s trademark look. It was a similar scenario to this one, where the whiskered girl got in over her head with a quest, only that time the results were much more benign, and she ended up with whiskers as a mark of her failure.

Unfortunately, this quest had much more serious consequences for Argo, and hopefully we could help her through them. 

“Well, I think we should let her know that whatever questions she may have, we’re open for them,” Asuna said, clapping her hands together to signal the end of our conversation, Turning around to open the door.

Any plans I had before Asuna opened the door were destroyed after she opened it; Argo sat huddled in front of the door, shivering in her coat, her eyes staring blankly ahead. Cautiously, Asuna stepped through the doorway, tiptoeing around to rest a hand on Argo’s shoulder.

The whiskered girl shakily turned her head to look into my wife’s eyes, then flung herself into Asuna, toppling the both of them over as Argo started sobbing. “Y-you, you came! You came! You came! You came! You came...” Argo trailed off into more sobs as I felt my heart tear into shreds. 

She’d just been trapped in a hostile house for a week, and we’d left her alone. Asuna met my eyes over the top of Argo’s head, and I saw the pain and self-hatred in them. We’d made an agreement to do everything we could to help her, and then failed at the first opportunity. Some friends we were.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Argo has a flashback, and Asuna comforts her.

Caring For A Rat Part 2

It was quiet, when Argo set her sleeping bag up on the floor of Kirito’s apartment. Asuna had taken the bed, at Kirito’s insistence, though she had left the door open. Kirito himself was asleep in his own bag, lying so still that Argo thought he might have been paralyzed.

The house didn’t even twitch when Argo lay down. She would never get used to that, that lack of noise from the house settling or the floorboards creaking. Still, she needed to sleep. It wasn’t like there was much to do. She’s caught up with her network and was waiting on her editors for the newspaper.

Still, it was difficult to convince herself that it was safe to sleep. 

“You’re being stupid, Argo. There’s no way Kii-bou would sleep somewhere dangerous.” The whiskered girl muttered to herself as she flopped down onto her sleeping bag. The bag rustled at her impact, and she felt her heart beat faster. The last time she’d been like this-

DANGER!

Argo flung herself to the right. Something blocked her dodge. Her health bar blared warnings at her, so deep in the red that only a sliver was left.

She ducked beneath the Flying Apes next attack, her hand coming around to grasp at a dagger that wasn’t there-

The Cabin flickered around her, and she scrambled over a table away from the ape, one hand desperately paging through her inventory. 

She skidded to a stop as her hand closed around a health potion, the glow of the life-giving item filling her with a profound sense of-

[Error]

The Cabin faded around her.

There was no ape. She was in Kirito’s townhouse, not The Cabin. She was in a safe zone.

She was safe.

She wasn’t going to die in her sleep.

Argo rose from where she’d flung herself, conscious of the chair she’d knocked over in her panic. “Fuck.” 

She couldn’t go to sleep like this, not if she went back to The Cabin when she touched her sleeping bag. She needs to do something, and maybe if she gets tired enough while doing it, she can sleep.

* * *

Asuna didn’t know why she woke up in the middle of the night, only that something was wrong in her house. She had only lived in it for a week, but already she thought of it as hers. 

She rose from the bed quietly, almost a wraith when she walked on bare feet to the half-open door, and oh…

Argo was sitting at the table, staring off into space. She walked up to the table, and pulled up a chair.

It’s only when she sat down that Argo finally noticed her. “Hey.” Is all the Info broker said, before she resumes her vigil.

Asuna sat at Argo’s side for some time, not quite knowing what to say. Argo was always more Kirito’s friend than hers, and she wasn’t quite sure what Argo might need. 

“Are you all right?” The question slips out of Asuna's mouth before she can stop it, and internally, she winces. It’s an insensitive question; Argo is obviously not alright, and she probably doesn’t want to be needled about it, either.

The Info Broker takes a deep breath before speaking, “No,” She said, and then keeps speaking, as if the words were waiting to tumble out. “I should have been able to get out of that house. If I wasn’t so fucking scared of dogs, then none o’ this would have happened.” The whiskered girl gestures angrily, working through a buildup of anger that clearly has been building from before she was rescued. 

“I’ve solved quests with more complicated puzzles; Quests that stumped everyone else who tried them. I should have been able to do this one on my own. I shouldn’t have needed to get you guys involved, I-I… I.” Argo broke down crying, and the fencer felt a sharp jolt of pain in her chest.

Asuna carefully reached out to grab one of Argo’s hands with her own, and the whiskered girl grasped it so tightly it almost hurts. “Did I ever tell you about my first month in Aincrad?” The Info Broker shook her head, still holding back sobs. 

Asuna shifted in her seat, casting her mind back through the painful memories of that dark time. “Back then, after the announcement I was convinced that we were all going to die here, and I’d just given up. I stayed in an inn for as long as I could, and I only ventured out into the fields because I ran out of money, and didn’t want to live on the street.” The words come faster and faster, spilling from her mouth now that the dam has been broken.

She’s only told Kirito about this before.

“I almost died so many times in that first month, and it wasn’t until we beat Illfang that I actually started to believe that we could escape.” Asuna leaned forward, tugging her chair around until she’s side-by-side with Argo.

“But after that, when I was trying to figure out how to actually fight to survive, you saved me with those books of yours.” It’s probably one of her deeper secrets. Ever since joining the KoB, she’s tried to present as strong and independent a front as possible, which meant burying the parts of her past that made her weak.

It was easier to pretend that she’d always been independent. Not many people even remember that she partied with Kirito, too many clearers dead or retired, and the rest just not caring. 

“I fought, and I learned, and now I’m second in command of the foremost clearer’s guild; I wouldn’t have been able to do that without you.” The fencer cupped Argo’s face in one hand, the intimate gesture feeling somehow right in this situation.

“You’ve spent so long supporting other people with your info and your network; I still haven’t forgotten that you found Laughing Coffin’s hideout.” Argo’s eyes grew wide; confused eyes. “You’ve been so strong for us; I don’t think I would be here today without you.” Asuna brushed away a tear from Argo’s cheek, the info broker leaning ever so slightly into the fencer’s hand.

“Please, let us support you, just this once?”

Argo comes undone, throwing herself at Asuna, wrapping the other girl in a hug, tears flowing freely and staining Asuna’s nightshirt. The two girls sat together like that, supporting one another for much of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Update is out


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Breakfast. Kirito doesn't have the best self-esteem, but at least he tries. Asuna is pissed off, and Argo is trying to hide her insecurities.

Caring for A Rat Part 3  
The sun was shining through the windows when I woke up. Sleep in SAO was different from sleep in the normal world. There was nothing save a very few specific alerts that could wake a sleeper up. That was why I wasn’t too surprised when I saw Argo and Asuna leaning into each other at the table.

I had been worried about Argo last night. She was looking anywhere except our sleeping bags, and still hadn’t been in hers by the time I went to sleep in mine. It was good to see that Asuna had been able to keep her company while I was asleep.

I draped a blanket over the women and started to cook up a field breakfast. While the Cooking skill was required for all advanced recipes and many basic ones, there was a small subsection that could be unlocked through the [Fishing] skill. The recipes were incredibly simple, and didn’t taste all that great, but they tended to be better than store-bought food on it’s own. 

And since Asuna probably needed her sleep after staying up who knows how late with Argo, I had decided that today would be a day for me to try and impress both Asuna and Argo with my cooking. I was probably going to fail. But that was no reason not to try.

Okay, first get the kitchen menu open…

It was almost thirty minutes later when someone yawned behind me. I had barely been able to finish three basic fish dishes, and hopefully Asuna would appreciate my efforts.

“Hey Darling~” Asuna mumbled into my shoulder, wrapping her arms around my body. Her warmth felt nice against me. I leaned back into her slightly, the two of us staying upright by pressing against each other.

“I made breakfast,” I said, picking up one of the fish dishes to give to my wife. She gave me a distinctly unimpressed look as she took the plate from my hands. “What?”

“I wanted to cook for Argo,” She said petulantly, taking a bite of her food. “Mmh!” Her eyes bulged and she set the dish down on the counter beside me. 

“That,” She said, shooting an astonished look at the fish, “Was the most tasteless dish I have ever had in SAO.” 

Oh. I was expecting it to be bad, but for it to be that horrible… 

“Relax,” Asuna elbowed me in the side, “It’s far from the worst dish I’ve had in SAO.”

“But you said it was-”

“Tasteless is very different from tasting horrible; it just needs a good sauce to give it a little flavor and we’ll have a serviceable dish. Now step aside, I need to work.”

I claimed Asuna’s old seat at the table and settled in to watch her work. Somehow, she made the cooking minigame look incredibly entertaining as she measured fluids, pressed buttons, and swirled a pot over the stove to produce the sauce she wanted.

I liked to watch her cook.

It was around the time that Asuna was wrapping up that I heard noises from beside me. 

“Morning sleepyhead.” Asuna said, turning around with her finalized fish dishes with a custom sauce, much better than my horrid attempts at a meal.

“Munyah?” Argo rubbed the sleep from her eyes, her hood falling off, revealing a rather adorable bed-head.

“We made breakfast!”

“Breakfast?” Argo sleepily stumbled to her feet and lumbered towards Asuna.

“We have some fish from the 36th floor with a sauce I made myself for you.” Argo looked quite hungry. I can’t imagine she had gotten much food recently. As if to prove me right, she fell upon the fish like a ravenous beast, and I barely had time to blink before she was reaching for the plates behind Asuna, who stepped out of the way to let The Rat feast.

“So,” Argo said as she chewed on a fishbone, seeming to derive some amusement from the action. “What are you all up to today?”

Asuna let out a long, loud, hard-suffering groan.

“What?”

“It’s not you,” Asuna said, flopping down onto the couch, the sunlight streaming through her auburn hair, making it seem like she was haloed in fire. “It’s my absolute asshole of a guild leader.”

“Asuna!”

“What?!” She snapped back at me, several weeks of rage boiling over once again. “You know how I feel about Heathcliff.” Asuna had looked up to Heathcliff when she first joined the Knights of the Blood Oath, but the further up she had risen in the leadership of the guild, the less and less she liked him. 

She still admired his ability to inspire and lead, but found his constant politicking to be distasteful, and disliked how he treated non-guild members. It didn’t help that she was forced to put up a ruthless front during boss meetings, most of which Heathcliff was too busy to attend, another thing that rankled on her.

However, it had only truly blossomed into anger when Heathcliff had requested a duel with me, something that could put both of us at risk. Though he had an impeccable record, more than one player had used a duel as a way to legally kill another player, and she hated the idea of it happening to me.

Despite everything, she still trusted him to lead us out of Aincrad, and I could see why. Heathcliff had a presence to him that was undeniable. It reminded me of american comic book heroes, the ones that you could trust to pull through and save the day no matter what.

“Yeah, but do you really want to give Argo something that juicy to sell?” I countered, gesturing at the info broker leaning against the counter. She looked like she’d just been handed winning lotto numbers.

“Oh relax, I won’t advertise anything.” Argo drawled, wearing that smug smile that had been sorely missing these past two days, “After all, I can make more col on cold, hard, data.”

“It’s good to see you’re feeling better, Argo.” Asuna said, her temper once again quieted. “But no, I’ll be occupied for the day, dealing with KOB stuff.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll probably tour around the shops and see if i can get any upgrades to my gear,” I said, scrolling through my equipment menu. “My swords and armor are good, but these gloves are from the 66th floor, and my boots aren’t much better.”

“Can I go wit’ ya?” Argo said, tapping her foot against the floor. “I’ve been thinkin’ that i need to get better gear, cause if I ever get…” the whiskered girl trailed off, wilting slightly. It was surprising that Argo, who tended to avoid player-run shops like the plague when she wasn’t investigating them for a scam or her newspaper, wanted to shop with me, who purchased almost exclusively from players.

But she and I both knew that the only thing better than player-made gear were rare drops, and Argo had never been a frontline fighter. My answer was obvious.

“Sure.”

Asuna sighed, and pulled out a stack of paperwork. “Well, you two have a good day out, I’ll do my best-”

“Asuna, is this paperwork urgent?” I cut my wife off. It hurt to see her so worked up about the guild, and besides, we were supposed to be on break now.

“Well, no, I can get Darx to take care of it, but-”

“We’re on break, we should be relaxing.” I walked over to Asuna and grabbed her hands “Why don’t you come shopping with us, and afterwards, we can go on a date.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, I'm happy with all the kudos I'm getting, but I would like for some comments, so please let me know what you thought about my work, what I'm doing well, and what I could work more on.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The beginning of the shopping trip. Asuna and Kirito are being sickeningly sweet, and Kirito is not oblivious, he just has horrible self-esteem.

###  Caring for a Rat Part 4

I walked quickly down the street, following Argo, who was ducking and weaving through the crowd of NPC’s and players like it was nobody’s business. Normally even the busiest towns didn’t get this busy, but we were in peak rush hour on the 55th floor, home of approximately one third of the player-run shops in the game, including many of the big-name blacksmiths.

The Player shops tended to not be very busy, in comparison to the NPC shops. Those ones had basic NPCs, little more than moving cutouts, entering, shopping, and leaving almost constantly. In comparison, only players frequented the player-run shops, and given that most shops sold the sort of things people only needed to pick up every couple weeks, if that, they tended to be empty most of the time.

And Argo was heading for one of the few that tended to be busy: Tin and Leather Plates. The owner was, as the name implied, specialized in armor, specifically the Medium-to-Heavy spectrum, and as such, neither Asuna or I came here often, preferring lighter armor. 

It was surprising that Argo had chosen to go here, instead of to Jin’s Armor Shop on the other side of town, where I was planning to visit to commission new gloves and boots, but even though this trip was my idea, Argo had taken command of it fairly quickly. 

Asuna and I had to scramble to keep up with her; neither of us wanted her out of her sight. We eventually caught up with her at the entrance to Plates, where she was standing a few feet in front of the doors. 

“Hey Argo,” I said, resting one hand on her shoulder.

“Hey.” she sounded blank, like she was trying to distance herself from her emotions. The last time she’d been like this… she’d been compiling the lists of Laughing Coffin victims.

“Do you want to go in?” Asuna said, from the other side of Argo. The info broker was silent for a time, and no one passed in front of us to enter the store. It was almost like the world was taking a breath.

“I want heavier armor,” Argo said, after almost a full two minutes of silence. “Something that’ll protect me when I’m standing still. Something that I can fall asleep in and trust to keep me alive until I wake up.” 

And with that statement, Argo walked into Tin and Leather Plates, projecting a fragile confidence that slowly grew more sure of itself with every step she took.

* * *

“Got any idea what you want?” I asked, after watching Argo browse through the store’s inventory for about an hour.

“Somethin’ with high defense,” Argo said, paging through the extensive list of chest armors. “You shoul’ go pick somethin’ out for yourself.”

“Eh, you wanted to come with me,” I said, leaning back in one of the chairs that the shopkeep had thoughtfully left near the racks of armor. “So I’ll stay with you as long as you need.”

“Careful, Kii-bou,” Argo almost purred, “Aa-chan might get jealous if she heard you sayin’ things like that.”

“Why would she? She’d probably be happy that I was helping a friend.” 

“Oh, fer cryin’ out loud!” Argo groaned, selecting an item seemingly at random. As she did so, she muttered something under her breath. “How can…ime?”

“I’m sorry, what?” I sat up, inclining my head slightly.

“Nothing ya need to worry about, kii-bou.” Argo booped me on the nose, carrying the heavy leather chestplate on her back, “You just stay as oblivious as you always are.”

“I’m not oblivious!” I stood indignantly, trying to salvage some of my dignity. “I maxed out my scanning skill!”

“What does your scanning skill have to do with anything?” Asuna asked, stepping around the rack of armor, carrying a pair of bracers. “You know what I had to do to get it through your thick skull that I was into you.”

That was... a very good point actually. “Okay, okay, so maybe I’m not the best at social interaction, but I don’t get why that makes me unaware of what’s going on, and if something I said made you angry, Argo, then I’m sorry for upsetting you, and I hope you can forgive me.” Argo flushed red as I spoke, her eyes growing wide.

“O-Ok,” Argo said, turning and rushing towards the counter, her steps as light as always. She was holding her intended purchase close to her face, for some reason. Maybe she was trying to find some sign of a defect? No, she’d be able to tell that just by looking at it’s stats. 

I guess some things would remain a mystery. 

“Wow…” Asuna whistled from her position by the rack. “I’d forgotten just how smooth you could be.”

“I- I wasn’t  _ flirting _ !” I stammered out, spinning to look at Asuna. I wasn’t flirting with Argo. Even if she had ever deigned me the privilege of taking her out on a date, I’m certain she would have dumped me at the first opportunity. 

Besides, Asuna had somehow taken pity on me after I had destroyed our friendship, and taken it into her heart to love me. She didn’t deserve me flirting with other girls.

“I know you weren’t. You’re just a natural charmer.” Asuna cupped my face in both hands. “At least, until people realize how geeky you are. Nobody can be charming and be that geeky,” Asuna said, a serious frown crossing her face.

Wha- “Asuna!”” I giggled, grasping her wrists and wrestling them away from me as she started rubbing my cheeks. “I seem to recall you being very infatuated when I described my dream PC.”

“What can I say?” Asuna said, stepping around to one side, her hand running underneath my chin, making me look into her eyes as she leaned on one of my shoulders, “I guess I just like it when you’re passionate.”

“Asuna…” I breathed, staring deep into my wife’s eyes. We leaned our heads in together, angling for a kiss. It was a simple, chaste kiss, nothing like the ones we had shared before venturing to the 22nd floor, but it still relaxed me, and it felt good; to feel my wife like this. 

We broke apart, and I leaned my head against her, while she rested her head on my shoulder. She was warm.

“Hey, guys?” Argo’s voice broke through the comfortable haze that had descended. “Are ya ready yet?” Slowly, hesitantly, I untangled myself from Asuna, preparing myself to walk out the door.

“Mmm, not yet.” My wife stretched, the bracers jingling in her hand. “I wanted to purchase these. They’ve got anti-paralysis properties.” That was a good choice. Paralysis was one of the few statuses that you couldn’t deal with on your own, but gear that resisted paralysis was rare, and correspondingly expensive. It looks like the money we had planned to spend on a house was going into gear now.

“Do those bracers come in black?”

* * *

“Let’s see, ah still need some new claws, and you two need…” 

“Boots,” Asuna and I said in unison, each of us nudging Argo occasionally, guiding her through the crowd as she scrolled through her notebook, trying to figure out which claws she wanted.

She’s only gotten more absorbed in her notes as the trip has gone on, seeming to try and block out as much of the outside world as she can. 

“Alright, I got a store for us.” Argo closed her notebook. “Normally if I was lookin’ for those things together I’d go to Agil’s, but he’s on vacation at the mo’, so we’re headin to Jeanne’s.”

“Jeanne’s?” Asuna voiced the question I found myself asking. Most clearers stuck to a few proven shops, and it was hard for a newcomer to make any impact on the market unless a prominent crafter had died recently. That neither Asuna or I had heard of Jeanne meant...

“She’s one o’ my contacts with the crafters,” Argo said, confirming my suspicions. “She an’ a few others don’t like dealin’ with customers, but put passion into their work to match your friend Liz’, an it would be a shame to lose ‘em.” 

Argo turned a different way, opening a different window with her hand and starting to type out a message. “So I set up a trading system with some merchants through them. I get the weapons at a discount in exchange for their privacy, and then I sell them to the merchants at just below market value so that they can make a little money off of it, and I pay the crafters by tellin’ em about the rare drops and mats in the middle floors.”

I wasn’t sure whether it was luck or not that we had turned onto a deserted street when Argo had started explaining this subcategory of her network. Given how devious Argo was, I wouldn’t put it past her to have planned out a route that avoided other people as much as possible.

“And if anyone wants to order a commission with a crafter, I send ‘em to Jeanne. She’s got a bit of everything, and is at least willing to do business with me an’ my friends. Just lettin her know that I’m bringing ya two.”

The closer we got to our destination, the more desolate the streets got. While the buildings were still in good repair, cycling through the same models that the rest of the city used, we passed fewer and fewer people on the streets. The last one was twenty minutes ago when Argo stopped in front of a small house, distinct only by a small sign hanging from the door.

**Jeanne’s Shop**

**Entrance by appointment only**

**Hours negotiable.**

If this shop had been in real life, there would have been a fine layer of dust over that sign.

Argo casually pushed the door open and walked in, making a little bell tinkle as she did so.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everybody for reading, and don't be afraid to leave a comment, or kudos.


	5. Chapter 5

Caring For A Rat Part 5

The shop was deserted, with no one manning the counter. There were no shelves, only a few display cases that contained a bewildering variety of items for a single shop. At a single glance, there were heavy axes, throwing weapons, crafting equipment, vanity items, potions, light and heavy armor, and even a painting on display. They all looked to be high-end gear as well.

The prices were correspondingly expensive. The one armor display I touched brought up prices only slightly less than what I paid for my custom coat, and they looked like untailored items. The stats however, were comparable. Which made it all the more surprising that whoever made this wasn’t more famous in SAO, where people were close-knit, and the high-levels even more so.

In fact, the secondary stats on this item would make it a high-end item, even competing with last hit bonuses.

A creaking door broke the silence that had settled over us as we browsed the small shop. A tall woman walked out behind the counter, carrying a small box of items. Distractedly, she starts scrolling through the accompanying list, muttering to herself all the while. 

“Claws, claws, claws, and boots, the potions, the book, and… yes, that’s everything.” The woman sighs, and leans back against the wall. Her brown hair almost blended into the wood paneling behind her, and her face seemed creased with anxiety and worry, her dress draped voluminously around her, obscuring her body from the waist down. It rustled as she stepped out from behind the counter, once again talking to herself.

“Now i just need to- Eep!” The woman yelped as she caught sight of us, and jumped back behind the counter. “I-I’ll be with you in a second!” She called out, and then ducked behind the box she had just carried out. I could hear the sound of her hyperventilating from where I stood.

It was fairly obvious why the store was so deserted, now. 

“You guys should probably wait outside while I close the deal.” Argo said, seeming resigned, and then she ghosted towards the counter, her footsteps even lighter than they were normally.

I exchanged a look with Asuna, and we stepped just outside the door. “I don’t want to leave Argo alone, but…” 

“Yeah,” I agreed, leaning back against the doorframe. “So, where did you want to go after this?”

Asuna raised an eyebrow, “You asked me on a date with no plan?”

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly, “It seemed like you needed a break, and I didn’t want you to concern yourself with trying to figure out what we were going to do.”

“Well then, decide quickly Kirito, because I’m looking forward to this date.” My wife teased, lightly shoving her shoulder against mine.

“Alright, alright,” I said, “I’ll think of something.”

Asuna nodded in approval, and we waited in a comfortable silence for a bit longer. I turned over plans for our date in my head. Would the park be a good idea? No, there was too much chance that someone would happen across us, and while we weren’t keeping our marriage secret, we weren’t advertising it either.

A restaurant, then? No, even trying would be an insult to Asuna’s skills as a chef. Maybe we could go for a walk through the elven realm? Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. The Elven Realm held good memories for both of us, and since we were keyed in to the teleport gate on the fourth floor, we could use the gate out to the elven borders for our walk.

“What do you think about visiting the Elven realm?” 

“On the fourth floor?” Asuna looked surprised.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve been there. Maybe you want to see it again?” Asuna hummed in thought, tapping her finger against her chin. 

“That sounds like a lovely date idea.” Asuna smiled, making my heart burst into flames. “Do you want to visit Kizmel while we’re there?”

“No, I was thinking that this would be a walk through the forests. We can visit the castle another time.”

“Oh,” Asuna said, her eyes shadowed as she kicked a pebble across the street.

“...Or we could visit Kizmel?” I hedged, only for Asuna to sigh in response, tossing her head in a motion that made her hair catch the light.

“No, this you’re right. This should be a date for the two of us.” 

“Okay.” I said, feeling a slightly oppressive silence fall as we sat on the steps leading up to the store, both of us clearly wanting to say something, but unsure about how to say it.

“Maybe we can schedule a visit with Kizmel?” I asked, breaking the silence, and causing Asuna to start smiling again.

“I’d like that.”

The silence that we sat in was much warmer this time.

It was only two minutes later that Argo came bustling out of the store, an eager look in her eyes. 

“I’ve got it!” The Rat exclaimed, scrolling frantically through her message board.

“You’ve got what?”

“No time!” Argo yelled, sprinting down the street, “I’ve got an emergency guide to publish!”

Asuna and I exchanged a look, and then took off after Argo. Anything that caused The Rat to put out an emergency edition of one of her guidebooks was worth our time.

Asuna caught up to Argo first, and I scooped the Rat up as I ran to catch up with her, ignoring Argo’s startled yelp. I pushed off from the ground, landing on top of one of the flat-topped houses with a single leap, Asuna right behind me. 

“Where do you need to go?” I asked.

“Ah-ah-The bookstore!” Argo stammered out, her face flushed red. Fuck, she was angry at me.

I readjusted my arms so that Argo wouldn’t fall mid-leap, and set off across the city, Asuna running beside me. It was nice of her to do that. I had no doubt that she could easily outpace me or Argo; neither of us were especially fast. After all, it still took me over two minutes to run a mile. Asuna could do it in less than one.

It seemed my fears of Argo falling were misplaced, because the woman seemed to have frozen in my grip. Was I reminding her of her imprisonment? I shouldn’t have taken the high road, nevermind that it was a full two minutes faster. Argo’s wellbeing was more important.

Unfortunately, by the time I realized this, I was already at my destination. I slid to a stop in front of the sole bookstore of the 55th floor. Argo slapped my arm, and I carefully set her upright on the ground.

“Whew,” Argo said, dusting herself off, “Warn a gal next time you’re gonna take her on a magic carpet ride!”

“Are you okay?” I asked, kneeling slightly to put myself at an even height with her. “I took the rooftops because they were over two minutes faster, but if I made you uncomfortable…”

“No, no! Nothin’ like that!” Argo said, her hands adjusting the edges of her cloak, “Just warn me next time, okay Kii-bou?”

“Okay.”

“Good!” Argo turned, and slipped into the doors. This wasn’t like her. Normally she would’ve drawn out her teasing by at least thirty seconds, with at least one jab about my tendency to physically pick up and carry girls. That she was almost fleeing from speaking to me... 

I really shouldn’t have taken the high road.

Asuna stared after the departing Rat with a strange expression on her face. 

“Is something wrong?”

My wife sighed, stretching her arms out. “I’m just worried about her.”

“I am too.” 

I grabbed Asuna’s offered hand, and entered the store with her.

Argo was already towards the back of the store, operating the printing press that allowed her to increase the number of pamphlets she could put out by an order of magnitude.

She looked over her shoulder as we entered, and hurriedly turned around, her hands almost punching at the buttons that made up the printer’s “keyboard”. She was definitely mad at me. Her face had been red when she saw me. She only got like that when she was especially angry. 

Did she want me to apologize? She hadn’t wanted an apology the last time I had offended her, or even most of the times, for that matter. The rules surrounding which offenses required me to apologize seemed nonexistent when I tried to categorize them. 

Prevent her from tracking down the whereabouts of the last piece of info surrounding a floor boss? My apology rebuffed and her own apology was given. Accidentally trip her while pursuing a smuggler? She didn’t speak to me for a whole day until I gave her the map data to one of my more effective grind spots on the 27th floor. 

It was especially strange, given that we had still caught the smuggler.

But I had never understood other people, and probably never would. I still didn’t understand myself. Regardless, I needed some way to take Argo’s mind off of my stupid actions, and I thought I knew how.

I strolled up to the other side of the printing press, leaning across the stable frame, and watched her work. The Info Broker almost aggressively avoided looking at me as she worked, her hands flying through the system, barely pausing each time she had to load a new set of pages.

“So, why was it so important to get this out?” I asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

Argo’s eyes gleamed beneath her hood, almost making her look like a rather tall Jawa. “I finally got Marnie to sell me th’ info for his smithing methods!” She started happily babbling, sharing info with Asuna and I that she would have charged anyone else through the nose for. 

“Did ya see the equipment in Jeanne’s shop?” When I nodded, Argo continued speaking, “It’s top tier equipment, all o’ it, but none of the other smiths I investigated could get the secondary stats on their armor anywhere near as high as Marnie’s.” 

Argo pushed down the lever that indicated she was ready to print. Kayaba was weirdly committed to realism in some ways and not at all in others. In this case, that meant giving the printing press the keyboard of a modern computer, while a series of levers that controlled the printing process, and the product of the press manifested as an item that had to be picked up. That, and a dial indicating how many copies were to be produced.

I made sure to brush up against this dial as I walked around the machine to help Argo with the new booklets. 

“...But Marnie’s one o’ the most private members of Jeanne’s lil’ guild, so I couldn’ jus’ meet him, an’ he was convinced that he wasn’t a special blacksmith, so I had too-” 

The sudden outpouring of booklets from the machine bowled both of us over. Argo let out a yelp of surprise as she was buried underneath copies of her latest pamphlet, while I relaxed and let the wave carry me over to the edge of the room, right next to a pair of familiar boots.

Asuna looked down at me with an amused smile. “Hey,” I said as I lay buried beneath pamphlets.

“Honestly Kirito,” Asuna tutted, “You really shouldn’t prank Argo like this.”

“I have no idea what you mean,” I said, grasping her hand and letting her pull me to my feet. A second later, the room glowed as Argo transferred all the booklets to her inventory.

The Info broker looked almost apoplectic as she stormed over to us. “Kirito!” Oh, she was really angry now. She only broke out my full name when she really got worked up. “You drained all my Ink you numbskull!”

I rocked backwards as Argo poked me in the chest. “What are ya gonna do ta make it up to me, huh?” I gave her my best puzzled look. 

“I thought you wanted to get those books out quickly, Argo,” I said, gently diverting another of her angry pokes, “I’ll help you get more ink, if you want me to. I can do it-”

Asuna cleared her throat meaningfully. 

“-Right after my date.”

“Which we are currently delaying for your sake, Argo, so please, tell us what was so important that you had to get it published now?” Asuna’s voice wasn’t quite icy, but there was no mistaking the chill that her voice held. 

“Hey, I didn’t ask you guys to come along Aa-chan, you invited yourselves,” Argo countered, coming up against the solid and implaccable wall that was Asuna. Still, with a calmness that I wished I could replicate, held up a finger. “It’ll be 10000 Col each.” A trivial amount to clearers such as us, but still…  
“And why wouldn’t we just pick up one of your new booklets about this topic?” Asuna asked, one eyebrow raised in incredulity.

“Cause they don’t explain how I got it.”

Without another word, I swiped open a Trade Window, and sent a request to Argo. I had been the one to run after her first, so it only made sense that I paid for the info now.

With two quick taps, Argo accepted the trade, and sat back on the Printing press, and started to tell her story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment or leave kudos!


	6. Chapter 6

Caring For A Rat part 6

“It took me a long time to get my hands on this info, almost six months. I firs’ noticed it when I was browsin’ through the items in Jeanne’s shop, much like you were. There was a consistent minority of items that were as good as, if not better, than mos’ of the stuff that the clearers’ were usin’. But Jeanne refused to tell me who’d made ‘em, and she was the only member o’ that group I actually had any contact with.

“So I had to follow her to one of her guild meetings, where I got to see all her guildmates. It wasn’t easy, let me tell ya that. Jeanne may be absolutely petrified abou’ strangers, but the girl is one o’ the most observant people I’ve seen. I almos’ got caught! Me! I almos’ got seen by someone withou’ the search skill! 

“But man, was the payoff worth it. 

“Her guild was fairly small; jus’ her, an’ four others. It was a trade guild, the kind ya see a lot for the upper midliners: a two ta three smiths, depending on how specialized they are, an alchemis’, an’ a merchant. 

“Jeanne was this group’s merchant, and she was a decent one. It was clear from their meeting that they weren’ tryin’ to make a profit, jus’ make a lil’ money on the side while they “Perfected their skills.”

“In short, they were the perfect group to supply the frontlines. I knew there an’ then that I wanted to get them a contract with one o’ the guilds, so that they could have a steady influx o’ materials, if nothin’ else, but then one o’ them mentioned a somethin’ nice.

“The group kept teasin’ one o’ their smiths, this guy named Marnie, about how close he kept his secret techniques, but none o’ them argued tha’ he didn’t get results, so I knew I had a real investigation on my hands.-” 

“Please, Argo,” Asuna said, interrupting the rambling Info Broker, “Can you summarize. I’ve already delayed my date almost half an hour for you.”

The Rat looked vaguely affronted at first, but then let out a little chuckle as she glanced between me and Asuna. I raised an eyebrow; I was proud of my love for Asuna, and though I was unworthy of her attention, I would strive my hardest to keep her happy. 

“Alright then, I’ll let ya two lovebirds go and dance. I’ll save my story for after you get back.” 

“Argo!” I blushed, furiously, and was unceremoniously dragged out of the building by an equally red Asuna, Argo’s laughter ringing in our ears. “Honestly, that woman. Why does she always know…” Asuna muttered angrily.

“At least she’s teasing us again.” I said, hopping so that I could walk with my hand in Asuna’s and not get dragged. 

“But can she not tease us about…” Asuna flushed an even deeper red.

“You know, for someone so seductive in the bedroom, you really can’t talk about sex, can you?” I said, taking over for Asuna in the leading department as she froze up.

“Oh it is on, mister!” Oh shoot. Asuna was entering her competitive mode.

“So when are we going to ‘dance’, Kirito~” My wife started throwing innuendo at me.

“Um, well, I actually didn’t plan to…”

“No ‘dancing?’”

“No, No! We can still, um, ‘dance’,” I said, “Umm, after our walk?”

“I’ll hold you to it.” I gulped. For all my paper-thin bravado when talking about sex, the idea of actually making love to Asuna still sent me into spirals, despite how often we had, ahem, indulged in the past week.

If my apartment hadn’t been soundproofed the same way all player homes were, I was fairly certain we would have gotten noise complaints from our neighbors.

The rest of the walk to the teleport gate was filled with a gentle sort of chatter as we figured out just what we wanted to see on the fourth floor. The early floors were some of the biggest, and there was far more than we could see, even if we took an entire week, but there were a few landmarks we both agreed that we had to visit.

It had been almost a year and a half since we had been to the fourth floor. After we cleared the fourteenth floor, there simply wasn’t any material here that a clearer might need, and most of the shops we browsed set themselves up closer to the frontlines. It was nostalgic to be back in Rovia, among the canals and chalk-white buildings that gave the city a distinct quality, almost like foam on a wave.

“So, do you want to catch a play at the theater or go for our walk first?” I asked Asuna, who was staring out over the park we had teleported too with a distant look on her face.

Maybe she was as nostalgic as I was.

“Let’s go for a walk, first. I want to see Yofel Castle before it gets dark.” Asuna started walking off to the Northwest, towards the forest where we had spent most of our time on the fourth floor. 

The woods were far less menacing now then they had been when we were clearing the level, for obvious reasons. The mobs that spawned didn’t even try to attack us, our levels too high for them to even have a prayer of damaging us. Even if we were to unequip all of our protective gear, both me and Asuna had the “battle regeneration” skill, which allowed us to heal 0.5% of our health every second while in combat, compared to 45% every minute when out of combat.

None of the mobs here had an attack stat over 100.

“How do you think Viscount Yolfis is doing?” I glanced over at Asuna, running through my mind in thought.

“Well,” I started to form my answer, “If this was any other NPC, I’d say that he was probably sticking to his preprogrammed routine, but maybe one of his children convinced him to go outside his office every now and then.”

“I don’t know about that,” Asuna said, “He seemed pretty convinced to stay in his room.”

“You make it sound like he’s a little kid who won’t come out unless his freckles fade.”

“Well, isn’t he?” Asuna said, cocking her head to one side. 

It fit. Ashamed by his physical appearance, and utterly convinced that any show of weakness on his part would shame his family.

“Just, don’t tell that to him. I’m fairly sure that would get us kicked out of Yofel.” I said to Asuna as we walked through the gradual change in woods that marked the transition from the Bear Woods to the much safer areas surrounding Yofel Castle. The change in areas was marked by a slow change in the BGM, with a much more drum-heavy track replacing the “woods” theme that played for much of the early forest areas.

It made me think of home.

“It’s not like we’re visiting Yofel itself,” Asuna said, brushing one hand over a mossy tree. Even after so long in SAO I was still astounded by how realistic Kayaba had made the game. While we didn’t have to go to the bathroom, that was about the only concession to fantasy he had made.

Weapons and armor felt heavy, if you didn’t have a decent strength stat. Crafting was so similar to IRL crafting that one person had been able to rocket up the tailoring tree by applying her real-world sewing knowledge. And most of all, the environments felt lived-in. 

The moss that Asuna had brushed aside fell to the ground in clumps before it shattered into pixels. Predator mobs would chase prey mobs, and humanoid mobs had guard routines. Even if the AI of most NPCs and mobs was so dumb that it made Skyrim look good by comparison, after all, the Chariotieer wasn’t supposed to drive off the edge of the map, the world still felt real in a way no other game before had.

“No, I suppose we’re not.” While it would have been nice to visit the castle, doing so would have been an all-day trip, and we still had a show to get to.

The woods grew brighter even as the leaves darkened while we approached Yofel, and soon we were walking along one of the streams that dotted the landscape.

I watched as Asuna started to relax, truly stepping away from all her responsibilities and worries here in the forest, so similar to where we hoped to make our home.

I watched as a small, non-hostile squirrel mob rushed across the forest floor in front of us, scurrying up a tree in flight from some predatory mob that avoided us. It was peaceful in a way that even my house wasn’t, seeming to almost ooze an aura of contentment, making me want to close my eyes and fall asleep.

But I wanted to fall asleep most of the time, and if I could fight the Gleam Eyes without having slept for two days, then I could stay awake longer for Asuna.

“Kirito,” Asuna said from over by a rock that formed a bend in the stream. “Let’s sit here for a while, okay?” Well, if my wife insisted… I sat down on the rock next to her, and immediately slumped over onto Asuna’s shoulder. It was warm.

I leaned against Asuna’s side for a while, the two of us sharing in a quiet comfort.

“Hey, Kirito?” Asuna broke the silence, bringing one of her arms over my shoulders. 

“...What is it?” I murmured into her shoulder, torn between rousing myself in response to my wife, and catching up on some sleep. That decision was torn from me when my wife took action.

I heard the distinct sound of someone withdrawing an item from their inventory, and peered across Asuna’s body. “Here,” She said, 

“Ooh, sandwich!” I almost snatched it out of her hands. Asuna had many dishes, but almost nothing tasted as good as her sandwiches did. 

“Slow down, Kirito,” Asuna said, her voice ever so slightly scolding “If you try to eat so quickly you’ll choke yourself.”

“‘M no gonnurk” I swallowed a bit more sandwich then I meant to, and spent a few minutes coughing as it almost went down the wrong pipe. 

“Easy there,” Asuna said, rubbing a comforting hand on my back.

“‘M fine,” I said, going right back to devouring the heavenly sandwich that Asuna had prepped for me. “Let’s get going, we still need to see Yofel.”

The woods got even more cheerful as we approached a cliff with a good view of our target, seeming to try and set the mood for our date. I smiled as Asuna was overcome with a fit of enthusiasm, and broke out into a light jog as we neared the cliff.

“Hurry up Kirito!” My wife called back, waving at me, “The view’s amazing!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I said, moving more sedately than my wife, only to feel my breath be taken away as I crested the top of the cliff. 

It was so high that even the tallest trees of the forest were far below us, and we had an almost unobstructed view of Yofel Castle, sitting in the middle of it’s lake. From so far away, it almost looked small, but I knew that it was one of the tallest structures on Aincrad that wasn’t part of a labyrinth.

Virtual light shimmered off of the enormous lake, so vast that I could barely see the other side. I could almost see the warm amber light filtering through the windows of the castle, and the gondolas moving back and forth, bringing soldiers and supplies to and from the castle.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Asuna said, standing by my shoulder.

“Yeah.” we stayed silent for a while, taking in the view of the castle before us. 

As I watched a bird cross the sky, I remembered something I had found while messing with the menu a week ago. At the time it had seemed almost useless, but now it was valuable.

“Hey, Asuna?” I said, walking back to the edge of the clearing on top of the cliff, getting the program I wanted up in the menu.

“Yes, Kirito?”

“Say Cheese!” I clicked the button on the camera app, forever capturing Asuna’s startled expression, laid over an amazing backdrop.

“Kirito?”

“Yes Asuna?” I hummed innocently, this truly was a good picture. I so rarely got to see my wife surprised.

“Did you just take a picture?” Asuna gripped my shoulder, having crossed the twenty-some feet between us in the blink of an eye. 

“Yeah, want to see?” I tilted the digital picture towards the fencer. She pouted when she saw the photo.

“Warn me next time, Kirito.” She thumped me on the shoulder.

“I did warn you, I said Cheese and everything.” I defended under Asuna’s unimpressed gaze. 

“You know what I mean Kirito.”

“I can’t help it that you look so cute when you’re surprised,” I said, as Asuna blushed lightly.

“Still,” She said, walking back to the edge of the cliff, “I’d like a proper picture this time,” She smiled over her shoulder at me, her hair burning in the sunlight. She looked so radiant it was a wonder my unworthy avatar didn’t burst into fire before her beauty. 

“Of course, dear.” It was the work of a second for Asuna to assume a pose that she liked, and then for me to take the picture.

“Now I’ll take a picture of you.” We swapped places and I waited as Asuna fiddled with the menu. Oh, did I ever tell her- “Kirito, hun?”

“Beneath the Scan skill tree. You don’t need to have Scan equipped.”

“Thanks!” Asuna called, binging her hand up in a familiar position. She was going to take a picture. I tried my best to look photogenic. “Say cheese!”

Two seconds later, I relaxed, my face settling back into a much more natural smile than the practiced one I had learned to wear for strategy meetings.

Asuna was frowning at something in the menu as I walked over to her.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine, I just wish we’d brought Argo along.” I stopped, a few steps away from seeing the picture she’d taken.

“I thought that this was supposed to be our date?”

“It is,” Asuna said, sighing and closing the menu. “But we can’t take any couple’s photo’s like this, and…” My wife gazed out over the lake, refusing to meet my eyes, “She had a breakdown yesterday because we stepped out to chat. I’m worried about her.”

The weight of Asuna’s words hung over us like a cloud, seeming to erase the comfort that perhaps only I had felt. Was I really so selfish that I ignored a friend desperately in need to have a date with my wife? 

“We could head back.”

“We should.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter should be ready by next week. Please tell me what you liked, or if you don't feel comfortable with that, then leave kudos


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone but Asuna deals with their feelings. Asuna deals with Argo's feelings.

Caring For A Rat Part 7

Neither of us spoke as we hurried back, neither of us trusting that Argo would tell us how she truly felt over a message. She was too good at not asking for help. Before we knew it, both of us were running, our strides eating up the ground in front of us, our feet unerringly finding clear spots amongst the forest floor, and our bodies following trails we couldn’t consciously process in our haste to get to Argo. As we ran, doubts plagued my mind.

Maybe Argo’s doing just fine, and you gave up on your date with Asuna for nothing. Or maybe Asuna was just looking for an excuse to end the date; you didn’t really think she’d enjoy a walk in the woods, did you?

As the dark thoughts started clouding me, I started using a technique Asuna had taught me when I spoke up about my doubts.

One: Even if Argo is fine right now, she might still need help later that we couldn’t provide if we’re not there. Two- I ducked under a low-hanging branch, throwing my body into a tumble and coming up running- Asuna was more eager for this date than I was, and put much more effort into it. 

I jumped over a log in the middle of the path, Asuna’s auburn hair catching my eye as she jumped beside me. She was a beacon of determination and drive in contrast to my mess of doubts. I never felt lost when Asuna was by my side, and she made the final refutation to my dark thoughts obvious.

Three: Asuna is just as concerned about Argo as I am.

With my resolve firmed, I settled into the rhythm of running, keeping my eyes ahead of me for any obstacles. The woods seemed to blur in my periphery as we ran, and before I knew it, we were at the teleport gate in Rovia, and Asuna was inputting our destination.

“Teleport: Algade!” Asuna shouted, and the two of us were swallowed up by a pale blue light. When the light cleared, we were standing in the familiar courtyard that formed the teleport park for the 50th floor.

Argo had returned here, and to my house, probably to continue her work on her newspaper. Hopefully her work was going well, and Asuna and I were hustling through the streets for nothing.

It was only a few minutes before we reached my home, and I just about bolted up the steps, Asuna right beside me. I opened the door, and felt my heart leap into my throat.

Argo was sitting in one of the corners, staring off into space, one hand clutching her knife. She seemed tiny, like someone had sucked all of the life and presence that could fill up a room out of her.

I cautiously stepped into the room, trying not to startle my friend. The second my foot hit the floor, her head shot up, and I felt her stare fall on me. She scooted along the wall a bit, placing my kitchen table between me and her. It felt like she was looking through me.

“Argo?” My wife said, stepping around me, before rushing into the house. As she moved, Argo’s gaze cleared, and she let her knife slip through her fingers, the blade clattering onto the floor as she dove into Asuna’s arms.

I hesitantly crept further into the room, listening to Argo’s hitching breaths and Asuna’s murmured reassurances. Catching Asuna’s eye with a wave, I indicated the couch.

My wife nodded, and started gently guiding Argo so that they could sit down on the couch. I hovered nervously around them, not wanting to make the situation worse somehow. And if there was one talent I had, it was making situations worse. Just look at what had happened with the Black Cats. 

What a mess I was, desperately wanting to help, but with no idea how.

Therefore, it was great trepidation that I sat down on the couch at Asuna’s insistence. She could be quite communicative with her glares when she wanted to be. 

“Closer, Kirito,” Asuna said, frowning at me when I sat down as far away as possible from where my wife was comforting Argo. Hesitantly, I scooched further towards the cuddling pair, until I was just outside of arms reach.  
Asuna sighed in exhaustion, then grabbed me by the arm and pulled me closer. When she was done, I was almost nestled up against her and Argo.

The info broker raised her head to see what her pillow was doing, and then grabbed me with one arm so fast I didn’t even see her untangle her limb from Asuna.

I found myself smushed up against the two women, one of them still taking heaving breaths. I could feel Argo’s heart beating rapidly against me, only growing more prominent as she burrowed further between me and Asuna. 

It was a precarious position we were in, with me half-draped over Argo, who herself was sitting on Asuna’s lap. I felt like I would fall off the couch at any second if Argo’s hold on both me and Asuna was any less strong. Still, I was taken aback when Asuna decided to pull us down.

It was a tumult of elbows and knees at first, but we quickly settled into a somewhat comfortable position, me and Asuna beneath Argo; who had cuddled herself into as tight a ball as she could over our bodies. The only thing to escape that sphere was one of Argo’s hands, which was gripping onto my coat as if she was falling off a cliff. 

My hands hovered in the air, uncertain of where they might go. Carefully, I nudged Asuna with my shoulder, and waved one of my hands.

With a snort, she guided them down over Argo’s back, and I felt the small info broker unwind a little, almost oozing into my embrace. It was strangely comforting, being surrounded in bodies like this. I felt my eyelids trying to drift closed and forced them open. As I did so, my mouth opened in a yawn. 

I shook my head as well as I could. I needed to stay awake. Once Argo had recovered, she wouldn’t want me to be doing this. It would be better for all of us if I... sli...pp...ed… a...w...ay…

…

…

I woke hours later to the sound of Asuna making dinner, while listening to Argo talk. The first thought that crossed my mind was that there should be something I needed to do. The second was that I had probably made the girls uncomfortable, falling asleep like that, and probably drooling all over them.

It was only then that I noticed the blanket draped over me. 

It was the blanket from the bedroom.

I carefully slipped out from underneath it, my feet making a loud *clunk* as they hit the floor. 

“Oh, hey Kii-bou!” Argo called, swirling in her seat, the shadows in her eyes almost eclipsed by her beaming smile, “Did ya’ get a nice rest?”

“It was nice, yes.” I started folding the blanket, preparing it for it’s return trip. Folding a blanket properly gave it a +5 warmth temporarily, so I made sure to fold every blanket after I used it.

“I bet it was, especially with some very nice pillows to rest against, eh?” I fumbled the blanket, barely catching it before it hit the floor. I spun to face Argo, my hands moving of their own accord.

“Argo!” Me and my wife yelled in unison, the two of us uniform in our blushes. 

“What?” Argo laughed, her grin growing even wider, “Do I not make a good pillow, Kii-bou?”

I steadfastly refused to meet her eye, gripping the blanket so tightly I heard it taking durability damage. I marched quickly across the room, suddenly wanting to lock myself in the bedroom until I could think of something that wasn’t the very pleasant sensation of Argo and Asuna pressed up against me, the heat of our bodies merging together… 

No, stop. I had gone over 300 days without masturbating before, this would be nothing. Hopefully.

As I closed the door behind me, I heard Asuna trying to lecture Argo.

“...can’t tease us about-”

“-Was I not a good pillow, Aa-chan?” 

“That is not the question here!”

“I’m not hearin’ an-”

*click*

Safe in my bedroom, I dropped the alarmingly low durability blanket onto the bed. Why was I letting Argo get to me like this? I should have been able to shrug her teasing off like the last time she teased me about us having to sleep close to one another, back when we were investigating the rumors of the item drop for the White Wyvern on the 55th floor.

So why was I so embarrassed by her friendly jabs now? Was she better at ferreting out what would get a reaction out of me? Or was my relationship with Asuna somehow making me more vulnerable to teasing? 

No, I still didn’t react when Klein messaged me every other day to ask me how my honeymoon was going, although he had stopped after I told him we were taking care of Argo. 

Whatever, why I was responding the way I was wasn’t important. I needed to shut it down so that I could function around Argo, without a permanently red face. Carefully composing myself, I opened the door.

“C’mon, tell me how he is in bed!”

And closed it again.

Why was Argo even asking about that? I thought, once again blushing furiously. I turned and slid down the door, clutching my face in embarrassment. I would wait here until Asuna told me dinner was ready, given that Argo appeared to be in a teasing mood, and my dignity would not survive another encounter with her. 

It took five minutes of fiddling with the menu for me to become bored. Normally I could immerse myself in the systems that made up Sword Art Online, but now I just couldn’t do it. What was the world coming to?

Carefully, I stood up, grabbed the brass doorknob, and opened the door an inch.

“You can’t keep covering up your injuries with all this teasing, Argo!” Asuna was standing like some righteous god, her concern and anger radiating out from her in equal measure while Argo sat hunched over in one of the chairs next to the table.

“I know that you’re used to relying on yourself, and some self-sufficiency is good. But you can’t do everything alone. Let us help.” 

The room was silent after my wife finished speaking, and it hung in the air like a man weighing the decision to take another hit of the drug that he has grown so dependent on, and will kill him if he keeps using it, or go through the painful ordeal of going sober. I felt the moment that Argo decided to cast aside the needle and call out for help.

“I don’t know how.”

The words were quiet, barely above a whisper, but I still heard them, and Asuna stepped in close, kneeling down before the Info Broker, and grabbing the other woman’s hands in her own. 

“Then we’ll figure it out together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave Kudos and/or a comment if you enjoyed!


End file.
